Encounter Resources Ltd (ASX:ENR) has intersected high-grade copper and gold in 200m step out drilling at the Dune Prospect (part of the 100% owned Lamil copper-gold project in the Paterson Province of Western Australia.
“The footprint of mineral system at Dune continues to grow and high-grade copper-gold reefs, up to 6.5% copper and 21.5g/t gold, were intersected nearer to surface in the latest drilling,” Managing Director Will Robinson said:
“In addition, drilling has intersected a different style of mineralization at Dune which appears epithermal in nature and contains silver assays up on 268g/t.
“Encouragingly, this is a new style of mineralization at Lamil and we will now integrate these new results into our existing models to design the next phase of exploration.”
Background
The 100%-owned Lamil Project covers an area of ~61 sq. k2 and is located 25km northwest of the major copper-gold mine at Telfer, owned by Newcrest Mining Ltd. Lamil is adjacent to a major regional gravity lineament which marks the location of an interpreted significant crustal scale structure that would have acted as a pathway for mineralizing fluids during the formation of the Proterozoic aged deposits.
Diamond Drilling at Dune
Prior drilling at Dune intersected multiple, stacked, copper-gold reefs in drill hole ETG0243 within a thick prospective package of interbedded siltstones and quartzites. This package is analogous to the Telfer formation siltstones and Upper Malu quartzites which are important hosts of Au-Cu reefs at the Telfer deposit.
Two holes (ETG0244 & ETG0245) were completed in September 2022 to test for lateral and down plunge extensions of the prospective package intersected in ETG0243.
ETG0244
Drillhole ETG0244 has further expanded the footprint of the mineral system at Dune. It was collared 200m north-west of ETG0243 and intersected copper-gold reefs higher in the hole than expected including:
* 0.3m @ 21.5g/t gold and 3.8% copper from 175.2m
* 0.2m @ 15.9g/t gold from 201.9m
* 0.18m @ 11.3g/t gold and 6.48% copper from 206.57m in ETG0244
The nearer surface copper-gold reefs intersected in ETG0244 are proximal to prior high-grade RC drill intersections at the base of the weathered profile at Dune including:
* 10m @ 2.8g/t gold and 812ppm copper from 94m in ETG0015
* 4m @ 3.3g/t gold and 1,400ppm copper from 74m in ETG0016
The relationship between the copper-gold reefs intersected in ETG0244 and the supergene intersections in ETG0015 and ETG0016 will be investigated.
ETG0244 intersected the target prospective package (projected from previous hole ETG0243) of altered interbedded siltstones and sandstones from 355m to 474m. In ETG0244 the target package carried lower copper-gold grades than in ETG0243.
However, an unexpected result from ETG0244 was a deeper intersection of copper-silver mineralization, hosted by a tetrahedrite-chalcopyrite bearing vein with epithermal textures. This is the first time this style of mineralis\zation has been recognised at the Lamil project. Assay results from this vein returned:
* 0.75m at 268g/t silver and 2.5% copper from 616.65m in ETG0244
Tetrahedrite (a copper-silver mineral) has a common association with high-sulphidation epithermal deposits and may represent a new untested target-style at Lamil.
ETG0245
ETG0245 confirmed the dip of the stratigraphy on the eastern flank of the Lamil Dome and intersected the targeted prospective package at 159m. However, ETG0245 contained less veining and lower copper- gold grades than ETG0243 and therefore provides focus for future exploration on the western limb of the dome.
A downhole EM survey of ETG0244 and ETG0245 did not identify any significant off-hole conductive features.
The diamond drill programme at Lamil was co-funded, up to $220,000, under the WA Government’s Exploration Incentive Scheme (EIS).
For further information please visit: https://www.encounterresources.com.au/
